Valerie Jarrett, Chief Executive Officer, The Obama Foundation
Interviewer: Jessica Yellin, Founder, News Not Noise 

Most Powerful Women Summit 2024: Protecting Democracy Globally

Conferences

Oh, you guys look fabulous. And Martin, ladies, ladies. Not, not too many guys. Good, good, good. It is so nice to sit here and talk to you, Valerie. I think the first time we met you were CEO in Chicago. It was before then Senator Obama was starting to run. Of course, you became a senior adviser in the White House and you're now again, a CEO of a $1.5 billion foundation, the Obama Foundation and counting and counting just in case anybody's interested. Well, that's an impressive start. Thank you. I know you're still fundraising. Um, first, I'd love to give people a sense of what's happening at the Obama Foundation. There are programs for girls and young people we'll talk about, but let's start with the facility itself. It's a very impressive campus. Tell us a little bit about what its focus is when it opens and why it's on the south side of Chicago. Ah, so I grew up on the south side of Chicago. That's why it's there. Right. No, that's not exactly why it's there, but it does make it very special for me. It's a 19.3 or campus right adjacent to the Museum of Science and Industry. Chicago's amazing Michigan lakefront and on the other side of the University of Chicago, just a 10 minute drive to downtown and it is going to be fabulous. It opens in the spring of 2026. You are all invited and come and take a hard head tour. Now, if you're curious and so it will be not only an economic engine for Chicago, but a beacon of hope for the world and it will house the presidential museum that will tell the story of not just President and Michelle Obama, but also the people upon whose shoulders they stand, it will have a Chicago public library because it's so important to the Obamas that the young people in the neighborhood feel that this is their home. We'll have a forum building for huge gatherings, including our democracy forum, which I know we're going to talk about and also an athletic center where we're not going to just do sports, but teach young people about the importance of self esteem and team building and the business of sports because not everybody's 68 and can dunk and, and they will have walking trails and vegetable gardens and fruit gardens and sledding. You can't sled anywhere else in Chicago and growing up Michelle Obama always wanted to go sledding. So we're building a sledding hill for her and it will just be an incredible asset for the city that we call home. Why Chicago? Well, it's where the Obamas began their career together, their life together. Michelle was born about two miles from where the center is located. He came to Chicago and he tells a story about coming those of, you know, Chicago along the sky way from Indiana and landing on the south side. They lived basically when they married not far from where we're located, their kids were born at the hospital less than a mile away. And it's where they built their life together and they wanted to put down their library in a place where they already had roots and where the people in the community would welcome them. And that's what Chicago has done. It's lovely. We're all excited to go good, please. The foundation is already doing work that is up and running a lot of scholarships and programs for young people because you're very focused on building the next generation of leaders. Yes. So when President Obama left office, he and Michelle spent a lot of time just trying to think through what do we want to do next? They're obviously still very young. They're very popular and they wanted to continue to be a force for good, but they also believe in taking the long view and building the next generation of leaders. And so we have leaders programs in the United States, Asia, Africa and Europe. We have a scholarship program thanks to airbnb for juniors and seniors in college to not only provide financial aid but provide them a summer travel experience. And these young people just came back a couple months ago and all of them were standing like 3 ft taller as a result of going 70% of them left the country and the other 30% went to cities or counties or rural communities where they had not grown up. And so this experience, as you can tell is one of my, my favorites. We also have uh my brother's keeper, which President Obama started when he was still in the White House to help improve the trajectory of boys and young men of color. And we have leadership programs for young girls. Uh And our goal is to keep adolescent girls globally in school and also in the United States. Um So and Columbia and the University of Chicago also have leadership programs. So we have now over 1000 alumni who've been through our leadership programs who are out there changing the world and uh spending time with them is what keeps me hopeful. A number of the students who come through your program actually live in countries with authoritarian leaders where democracy is not functioning for them. Can you speak a little bit about the challenges of training kids for young people to work in a world they don't yet live in. Well, it's hard for a variety of reasons and I'll give you an example of a young leader in our program. Who was uh from Vietnam and she was actually incarcerated. And the Obama leaders program isn't necessarily the best calling card in some countries. And so you have to really respect and admire these leaders who are willing to take a risk to fight for human rights when they are enco countries that are not supportive of those rights. We have another young leader named Zuma who's from Poland and she's now the Deputy Minister for Justice, fighting for human rights and civic engagement. And she says if it wasn't for our program, she would have never considered putting her hat in the ring for this office. And her best friend said grade was also in the leaders program and occupies the top position in government as well. And so when you see that so many people out there have great ideas and they're working so hard and they feel alone and they feel overwhelmed and all they need are some simple tools to help them do what they're doing, take it for, to scale and meet other people from around the world who are trying to tackle the same challenges. And so we don't tell our leaders care about this or care about that. We're not issue specific. We just want them to have the tools to be more effective and to take what they're doing to scale and to meet some people from around the world with whom they can bond and develop relationships and maybe even do a little business together, strengthening democracy here at home and overseas is a big focus for you all. Would you talk a little bit about your democracy forum? Which I think is coming up. Yes, December 5th. We have our third annual democracy forum. I'll be honest with you. When President Obama left office, he didn't think he had to have anything focused explicitly on democracy. It's kind of a through line in all of our programs. But given the state of the world he thought, well, let's zero in on that. So our first one a couple of years ago was on disinformation. And he gave a speech at Stanford University, my alma mater on the different ways that business, civil society, the individual and government could try to tackle this huge problem of disinformation, which we know is only going to get exacerbated as a result of A I um last year, we focused on inclusive capitalism. What are the ways in which we can build a strong middle class? Because we know that a threat to democracy is if you have countries where you have the rich and the poor and you see uprisings when people feel government is actually not working for me. So what can we do to make the tent big enough and the pie large enough for everybody to benefit? I always say that look, um talent is ubiquitous. It's opportunity. That is not. And so how do we build this bigger opportunity? Platform. And then this year we're focusing on pluralism and I was talking to someone earlier who I won't out. But she said she probably hadn't heard that word since college. And it's particularly relevant right now, I think because we are in this polarized, not just country but world and people are so comfortable in their echo chambers. And as a result of social media and the way we are organized and the people who came of age during COVID, some of the basic skills of having a very difficult conversation with someone with whom you disagree, but you come to the table in goodwill and you want to try to figure out is there common ground and there may not be but it's healthy and it is essential in a democracy to go through that exercise. And so how do we build a pluralistic society if we don't, then the chances of us having a strong democracy begins to fail. And so each year we're looking at what are the foundations, what are the threats? What are the opportunities to strengthen our democracy and taking on specific areas of focus? You guys never take on the big challenges. Um I want to switch gears a little bit and ask you about the Girls Opportunity Alliance because I remember this from some of the work Mrs Obama did at the White House. It's an outgrowth of some of her work there. Um Tell us what this focus is on and how it really is could help strengthen democracy here in the US. Yes. So, um as you said, Jessica, first of all, can I just say how happy I am to be here with Jessica? I should have said it from the beginning, but you realize her focus is to tell good news stories, stories that don't just scare people to death. And I think that's good because of this current climate. You can seem overwhelmed by all the bad news. And so taking a moment to put out the good things that are actually out there. So I wanted to give you that shout out before we run out of time. So um when Michelle Obama was the first lady, she launched a program called Let Girls Learn. And her goal was to focus on the 100 million girls around the world. Adolescent girls who are not in school, why are they not in school? A variety of different reasons. Some of it's poverty, some of it's child marriage, some of it's oppression, some of it's just lack of good resources and opportunity. And she worked with a variety of organizations when she was in the White House, raised a billion dollars to help keep girls in school when she left. She said, well, what can I do without the platform of first lady but continue this hard work. And so the girls opportunity alliance and I hope they are partners. We have so many partners in the corporate community that are focusing on this here in the United States and around the world is the same. How can we keep these girls in school? And we work with a whole range of grassroots organizations on the ground that they're having success, evidence based strategies that are keeping our young people in school. And last year, Melinda French Gates and Amal Clooney and Michelle Obama teamed up quite a, quite a threesome if you asked and went to Africa and really put a spotlight on the issue of child marriage, which is a huge challenge. And one of our leaders, a young 18 year old was very instrumental in Malawi in trying to raise the age with which young people could get married. Uh So this is our plan and what we wanna do around the United States as well as around the world is to find those organizations that care about this passionately partner with us and let's help girls learn from it. So finally, you've been a leader, your whole career. Um and not my whole career. Let's be honest. Well, in the very beginning, maybe not started out a lawyer at a big law firm. That was a nightmare. So just in the spirit of full disclosure, I like that. That's true. But we all come from humble beginnings. Uh Talk a little bit about if you would, you, you were a $1.5 billion foundation. You're juggling family and life and all the pressures we all deal with but also in a tense election year while you're trying to raise money, what advice would you give other women leaders about doing the job without compromising your essential needs and values? Well, first of all, um this notion of work life balance, I think sets us up for disappointment and the way I prefer to look at it and I can say this because I'm older than most of you. Thank you. Is that life is full of chapters and, and different chapters. There are going to be trade offs that you're going to make and some chapters are just really hard, like raising Children. Any of you have kids in this room. Ok. Well, the best thing is when they have Children because first of all, it's payback. But second of all, there's just nothing better than grandchildren. I have two, don't hate me, but they're just the best. But when you are young, I felt and I still obviously remember it quite vivid searingly like I was holding on by my fingertips and I felt particularly when I was in that law firm that I couldn't really, and this is 38 years ago, but I just felt like I didn't tell anybody I was pregnant until I was six months pregnant. I gained so much weight. I was obviously pregnant, but I was afraid if I talked about it, people wouldn't take me as seriously. And that was the way the environment was back then. And so I was compartmentalizing and if I had to take Laura to a doctor's appointment or anywhere else, I would just, oh, I'm going to a meeting and why couldn't I just say taking her to a doctor's appointment? Because when the men would leave for soccer practice, everybody thought, oh, what a wonderful dad. He is. Right. And, and so in that era, I also felt alone and I felt like I had to do it all myself. And I used to think about, well, what must it be like for moms who don't have the good paying job and the health insurance and the great childcare and the support system that I have. And how can we take care of those structural and cultural impediments and legal impediments? Which is why part of my passion when I worked in the White House was chairing the White House Council on Women and girls. And so look, it's hard when you're younger, but then they grow up. And so I think part of what I'm trying to say is that during these different chapters of life, make informed decisions and don't feel like you're compromising, make it intentional and own the decision and be realistic about what you can do and what you can't do. But I also say you have to, you know, put the oxygen mask on yourself first. And so even in the White House and you know what that was like covering us is, is that I get up an hour earlier and exercise. Do I enjoy exercising? I do not enjoy exercising. Let me be really clear, but I needed to clear my mind. I knew I would feel better when I was finished. The happiest moment of the day was when I got off that treadmill. Um, and I was doing something for myself and I would, you know, in the beginning I'd say, well, I do it after work. Well, there was no after work. And, and so this notion of balance sets you up to think that you can have it all at the same time. And what I would encourage you to think instead is when you look back, I'm not saying my life is over. But let's say when I look back, I've had multiple chapters and the question is, do the chapters add up to a whole life? You know, did you love, did you build relationships? Did you find time and space in your heart for the people that you care about? Knowing that that meant that you didn't get to do some other things. And when my daughter was young, I, I had her when I was 28 and most of my friends and relatives didn't have Children. They would go off to Europe and they go doing whatever partying all night and I would be home with Laura and they said, well, don't you miss being out with us? And I was like, no, I made this decision to have this baby and now they're paying college tuition and Ih, that's nice. So that's my point. And so just be intentional about your life and try, try not to put too much pressure on yourself to say I have to have it. All right, this second. And I think for the younger generation where let's face it as a result of technology so much does happen quickly and it's right there at the palm of your hand. And I'm always telling them this is actually not a sprint. It's a marathon with lots of hopefully twists and turns. And the final thing I'll say as our clock runs down, I wrote a book called Finding My Voice, The Journey To the West Wing and the Path Forward. And then when I did a paperback, I changed the subtitle because it's really the story of my life, which is when the perfect plan crumbles. And I thought I had a perfect plan, a 10 year plan and I checked off all the boxes on my plan except for 10 years in the last one was live happily ever after and I was miserable. And so when the perfect plan crumbles, that's when the adventure begins. Yeah. And if you look at life like an adventure, then the swerves end up being an incredible line. Thank you guys, Valerie. Thank you. Thank you for your leader.